Author information
1 Department of Psychology, College of the Holy Cross, P.O. Box 217A, Worcester, MA, 01610, USA. jhayaki@holycross.edu.
2 Behavioral Medicine and Addictions Research Unit, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.
3 Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
4 Lifespan Physicians Group, Providence, RI, USA.
5 Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
6 Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
7 Department of Health Law, Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
Alcohol consumption is common among individuals coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) despite the uniquely harmful effects in this population. Limited research has examined factors that could influence drinking reduction or cessation among HIV/HCV coinfected persons; this study investigates motivation to quit. Participants were 110 alcohol-consuming HIV/HCV coinfected patients recruited from medical clinics. Participants self-reported 90-day drinking frequency and intensity; alcohol-related problems; reasons to quit drinking; reasons to drink; and motivation to quit drinking. Participants consumed alcohol on 54.1 (± 26.9) of the past 90 days. In a multivariate model that controlled for demographic variables, motivation to quit drinking was directly associated with alcohol-related problems (βy·x = 0.35, p = .007) and reasons to quit drinking (βy·x = 0.23, p = .021), and inversely associated with drinking for enhancement (βy·x = - 0.36, p = .004). This study identified several factors associated with motivation to quit drinking in a sample of alcohol-consuming HIV/HCV patients.